As the River Flows
by Mnemosyne00
Summary: Lethe, a ghost trainer, aspires to become Ecruteak's newest gym leader. Supported by her friend and her Pokemon campanions, will she reach her goal?
1. Chapter 1

"I wonder if today will be the day." A quiet voice drifted in the wind that flowed in front of the Burned Tower. "Do you remember we met here?" The girl, about the age of fourteen, appeared to be talking to herself. "I remember. It's kind of funny in a way, most trainers choose their first Pokemon, but I feel like you chose me." The tiniest smirk appeared on her lips as a floating purple orb with a trail of purple smoke circled around her. "Gaassstlyy."

"Lethe!" A male came running up behind her, nearly out of breath, sporting a brown trench coat with a white tee complimented with black pants. "What are you doing here? You're going to miss the interview with Morty."

Lethe stood up. Her short blue hair swayed with the winds as her red eyes showed some odd mixed of determination and hesitation. Today could be the day that would allow her to become the new gym leader of Ecruteak City. Morty was retiring the position of the holder of the Fog Badge and needed to find a replacement. Rumor is that he's doing so because he knows something about the three legendary dogs that most of the people in the city, and entire Johto region, don't have a clue about.

She smiled and began to walk. "We'll be fine, Joseph. The gym isn't _that_ far." Joseph sighed and began to follow, "Fine."

"Th-the line is huge!! It's at least 3, maybe more, hours long, Lethe! And look at all these people. They've probably come from the farthest regions of Johto. Maybe even Kanto. This competition is going to be seriously tough. Do you honestly think you can defeat all these people in a battle? Surely not all of them have Ghost-types that could upset your goal in battle. And you kn-" He was cut off by Lethe placing her index finger on his lips.  
"You talk too much sometimes…" She removed her finger from the front of his lips and Joseph remained silent for what seemed like forever.

The line seemed to slowly crawl, yet Lethe behaved as though it didn't bother her. You'd think she would be anxiously jumping around and annoyingly talking about their obsession of the latest male idol like the other female trainers. Joseph assumed that is the reason why he enjoyed being with her. She was different but not in a bad way. Unique was more of the word.

Suddenly, Joseph snapped out of his gaze, hearing his name.  
"Joseph, you were staring off into space. You can leave for a while. I should be fine."

"Nah, I'm fine right here. I want to make sure you get your turn without any troubles." He gave a semi-big smile.

"Suit yourself. We're still about an hour and a half away from the front doors." The voice trailed off as if she began to get lost in thought. Joseph wondered if it was because of Gastly wasn't present. Maybe the ghost Pokemon was, you just couldn't see her. SpookSpook, Lethe's nickname for her, always disappeared to go somewhere to play tricks or whatever else. Lethe never seemed to bother to ask. Maybe she trusted SpookSpook that much. He was sure that it wasn't that she didn't care.

Joseph reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. The one thing that he wondered the most was a simple question, but one never answered; Why the name "SpookSpook"? It seemed so… childish for Lethe. He knew that Lethe and SpookSpook have been together long before he ever met her, but it just seemed so out of character for her.

"Hey, you know, after you talk to Morty and all that, maybe we can go get some ice cream or something? I'll pay."

"That's fine."

Lethe scanned the people ahead of her. She noticed that quite of a few of the girls were crowded around one guy. The mob of girls blocked her view of the guy, but she figured he was just an arrogant show-off trainer.

A purple orb was floating in the air towards her carrying a chair. A smile appeared on her face. So that's where her partner went to. The purple orb dropped the chair a few inches from the ground and began to circle around its trainer. Some people drew back, stunned or frightened, as if they've never encountered a Gastly before. Maybe they were just scared of them or knew what kind of tricks and deceits they could pull. Others just kept their poise, accepting it as just another Pokemon.

Positioning the chair in the way she wanted, Lethe sat down, resting her legs that had been allowing her to stand for the last past hours. She heard Joseph make a small complaint about not having a chair and hid a smile. Her mind often wondered why he wasn't a Pokemon trainer, but never asked him; figuring it was none of her business.

"Hey. Lethe!" He smiled and pointed towards the door. "We're almost to the front doors now. Only…" His finger hopped over person to person as he counted out loud how many people would walk through the doors before them, "Twenty-three more people!"

A small laugh slipped between her lips. Why was he so excited? Maybe he really is just there to support her; maybe he really is a great friend.

"Gaaassstllyyyy… gaasst…" Her voice had a faint wisp of a menace.

"No. Don't try to make the line move further. These people waited too. They should get their turn."

SpookSpook shot a glance at her partner, frustrated and disappointed, but just drifted in a circle around Lethe who just smiled, knowing the ghost was anxious, more so than Lethe herself.

"We're almost there. Only fourteen left now."

Looking ahead in the line, her conscious registered that the mob of girls had dispersed, possibly the trapped trainer already went inside for his interview. There was a chance that she would run into that trainer and see what the girls were really gawking about.

The line began to decrease as person after person went in as one left. Soon enough, it was time for Lethe to open the door to the gym and find out if her goal will be reached. Stepping through the door she could barely hear Joseph wishing her luck.


	2. Chapter 2

A woman holding a clipboard was waiting for the next high-hoping trainer to walk through those doors. Dark red hair tied up in a neat, sharp bun with black sharp-rimmed glasses covering her emerald eyes, Sheila was not a person to mess with and her business shark outfit showed it. Tapping her pen on her clipboard, the assistant studied the newest trainer coming in. She hoped this next one would be the last, but there always was another one.

"Name?" Even her voice was like the end of a tack. The index finger on her right hand clipped the point of the pen out.

"Lethe."

"Alright, Lethe. Morty is just down this hallway." It was as though she turned on a dime and began walking like that wasn't a care if the trainer got left behind. Why would she care? Sheila would miss being Morty's assistant and she highly doubted that any of these "wanna-be" trainers could fill in the spot perfectly. Or at least close to it. Something was odd about this walk. Now they were walking past the gym battling floor and usually the person being escorted would be showing some kind of nervousness, cockyness, or just talking way too much. But this one; this one was quiet. Quiet with confidence? Or nervousness. This actually tugged on one of Shelia's nerves. Luckily they reached the door that would lead to Morty's study.

"Morty will interview you in there."

"Thanks."

An eye twitched slightly. That quietness again; the blue-haired trainer spoke only a single word. Shaking it off, Shelia knocked on the door twice. "Sir, Lethe is here for you. "Good luck with your interview." She spoke, opening the door and watching the girl walk in.

Lethe wasn't sure if the secretary's comment was for her or Morty.

Morty's study wasn't exactly the biggest place. Small and quaint, and filled with shelves of books about legendary Pokemon, Lethe noticed, but also with histories of the leagues and rules of a badge-holder among others with no titles or authors on the spine.

"Please, sit."

The tired, yet forced-a-smile voice startled her and focused her attention to a man wearing a blue headband wrapped around blonde hair with a blue outfit to match. It was him. The Fog Badge bearer of the Johto league and Ecruteak's pride: Morty.

She sat down in the chair at his desk, across from him.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to ask you a few questions. Are you fine with that?" He could already tell there was something different about her unlike most of the others he had to waste time with. Call it a "gym leader's instinct". He received a nod in response. "All right, now, what type of Pokemon did you choose for your starter?"

"My starter chose me."

This struck Morty as odd. "That's not a response I've heard today. Care to explain?"

Lethe looked at a top corner in the room, this too caught onto his curiosity. "Lethe?"

"She's saying that your question is kind of personal to her, but in order to help me, all she'll say is that you of all people should know about how Pokemon connect with humans."

"And 'She' would be…?"

"SpookSpook, my Gastly."

'SpookSpook'? He had to restrain a chuckle from hearing that nickname. That childish nickname didn't really seem like it would have come from a young teen so mature for her age. "Ah…I see. So, then you're obviously a ghost-type trainer?"

"Basically…"

"What other Pokemon do you have?" It wasn't often you got to meet another ghost-trainer. Well, there was Agatha, but she's odd and well… old. He had to admit, she was an interesting character, and could possibly have potential to become a gym leader. It still is too early to tell. Not to mention this is only the first step to help weed out most of the applicants.

"I have a Shuppet, Misdreavus, Sableye, and a Duskull."

Morty thought over the 4 listed Pokemon, three of them weren't in their final evolve forms, while Sableye doesn't evolve. But being evolved isn't every thing, it might not be too one-sided if she trained her Pokemon well enough. He studied her for a minute and realized she was a person of few words most of the time. She didn't seem like a power-hungry person or someone who just wanted the title to be "popular". "  
"Why do you want to become a gym leader, Lethe? Why do you think I should allow you even a chance to replace me?"

Gastly became visible and circled around her partner.

"'Why'" She repeated, "Simple. It's just been a dream of mine."

An eyebrow raised on the gym leader's forehead. "What is the reason for that dream? It can't be that simple. Why is that your dream?"

"I want to amount to something. Not in an egotistical way. It's more personal than that."

"I see…" He jotted down some notes. "That'll be it for today, Lethe. My request is that you come back at 10 'o' clock sharp tomorrow morning. Others will be there too. Be prepared for anything."

Getting up, Lethe said her thanks and left, the purple orb vanished from sight once again.

"Tomorrow will be an interesting day." Morty smiled and folded his hands together as his elbows rested on the desk.

As he spoke the last sentence a purple Pokemon with red eyes came through the wall. "Gengar…"

"I'll need you to keep a look out for cheaters tomorrow. But also, keep an eye on this male, Kevin and a girl, Lethe. Think you can do that?"

"Gennnngaarr gen…"

"Heh. You're right. Forgive me. Of course you can. Tomorrow will be interesting indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

"How did it go?" He, Joseph, was there waiting for her; true to his word. Lethe looked up at him,

"He wants me to come back tomorrow and be 'prepared'. I think there might be a tournament or a contest of some sort. Maybe even both."

"AH-HA! That's great, Lethe! You're going to be the next gym leader. I'm positive." He exclaimed, giving her a bear hug. Lethe could've sworn she heard some bone pop, but gave a tiny smile. Ever since he had seen her battle for the first time and inquired her about where she got her strength at, he'd been pushing her to reach her dream. She remembered that time well.

"_H-ey! That was an amazing battle! How ever did your Gastly get passed that Growlithe? Simpling amazing! What makes you and your Gastly work so hard?" There was something in his eyes. Something she just couldn't put her finger on, but he had noticed her; taken in interest at what she strived to be best at. That wasn't common. She was a dirty pre-teen back then. No money, on her own. _

"_I… I want to be like Morty. I want to be a gym leader someday. SpookSpook said she'd help me."_

_The new stranger smiled, "I see. Well, let me help you in anyway possible. Let's be friends, okay?" _

Joseph released the bear hug and grinned. "So, what are you going to do now? I think we should celebrate. Ice cream now, maybe? Or what do you want? We can do what you want, does that sound okay?"

"Actually… I just want to think about tomorrow."

"Oh, then you're going to…?" His voice clearly expressed his sudden mood change.

"The Burned Tower? Yeah…"

"When will I see you next?"

"No clue. 2 hours. Three. Maybe not even until tomorrow morning."

Her voice was so… sullen. It was possible that she was nervous about tomorrow or just in deep thought about it? He was upset she wouldn't be going with him to get some ice cream. "Okay then. I'll just be at my place. Drop by whenever you want, alright?"

All she did was nod, and then turned her back to walk towards her destination.

"Oh, Lethe!"

She paused, turning her head around. "Hm?"

He froze. What to say, what to say? "Good luck… tomorrow."

"Thanks." With that, she continued walking away from him.

"Messed up again…"

There was that mob of girls again; all huddled up around something, which Lethe figured, was the same trainer as before. Normally she would go around, but they were flocked together in front of the Burned Tower. As Lethe got closer, she could hear what they were giggling and squawking about.

"Nooo! I can't go in there. Isn't it supposed to be haunted?"  
"Yeah, not to mention it's creepy. Think about all the cobwebs and rats."

That's when she saw him; the "idol trainer". She couldn't honestly blame the other girls for flocking to him like pidgeys. He was a tall, older teen. Maybe 19? Not quite sure, never really been good at guessing ages. But he had black hair, part of it swept in front of his left eye and was casually flipping a Pokeball in the air.

"Haha, come on now ladies. That place can't be that horrifying. It's just the remains of a building that caught on fire." It was such a smooth voice, but cocky. Surely this guy was all show. No problem at all.

"If it's not so scary, why aren't you in it?" Lethe snapped quietly. Something about being near the Burned Tower gave her some kind of power. Anger, aggression… something always stirred within her when she came close to here. She could heard some of the girls whisper about "that's that one girl", "she's weird looking", or "I heard a few rumors about her".

"Aw, look gals. This little girl wants to play with us." The male trainer smirked.

She scowled.

"Such big talk for a little kid. Do you know who you're dealing with? I'm Kevin and I already own half of the badges in the Jhoto league. And what do you have?"

"Ha. Look, she's gone all silent now," A brunette chimes as some laughter joined in. "Honey, it's getting late. Maybe you should go home and take a nap."

Lethe looked down at the ground.

"Aw, is she going to cry?" "That's fine, let her." "That's kind of harsh, don't you think?"

"Heh, I have an idea." Kevin spoke. "We'll put her in the tower. Then we can tell if it's really haunted or not when we come back to check on her in the morning."

The girls laughed, obviously agreeing and watched as Kevin headed towards Lethe and picked her up after a light struggle.

"You're going to be sorry for messing with me."

"Oh and why is th-?!" Kevin froze; his eyes widened as he realized he couldn't move after a long tongue went up his cheek and dropped Lethe. The girls quickly dispersed, screaming.

SpookSpook orbited around Lethe as she stood up, "I told you… the paralysis might wear off in a few hours or maybe one of your 'fans' can help you. Come on, SpookSpook, we need to think about tomorrow," and began walking towards the entrance.

Kevin's eyes glared as he watched Lethe and the gastly leave. Tomorrow? That puny little goth kid is going to be there tomorrow? Well, that could work out for a revenge plan.

I'd just like to thank those of you who have read the first 3 Chapters and the two people who have given me reviews so far. This is my first fan fiction that I have ever posted on a website. Thank you all so much! 3 -Nemo


End file.
